UPDATE TWO: The new Fortnite Season 8 Battle Pass is now available to claim for free or buy, for 950 V-Bucks.

It comes with the usual 100 rewards available to unlock by completing weekly challenges, the first set of which are available now.

“This season, you get the Blackheart and Hybrid progressive outfits instantly when you purchase the Battle Pass, both of which can level-up to unlock new styles,” a message from Epic Games reads.

“New to Season 8: Party Assist! Before a match, you can pick a Daily or Weekly challenge and get assistance from your friends to help you complete it! Team up with a friend to complete these new social challenges together.”

The Tier 100 skin has also been revealed for Fortnite Season 8, with Luxe becoming the first female variant to fill the slot.

Players will need to outlast 24,000 opponents to have a chance at unlocking the Legendary Black and Gold version of Luxe, which is part of the 24K set.

UPDATE ONE: The new Fortnite Season 8 Battle Pass will be revealed by Epic Games within the hour.

It has been confirmed that scheduled server maintenance will begin at 9am, GMT, the first step in the big update process.

This will be followed by patch notes, a new trailer, and the full Battle Pass announcement for all platforms.

ORIGINAL: The Fortnite Season 8 battle pass will be available to buy later today, following the release of update 8.00.

The Fortnite Battle Pass is renewed every season and always contains special items exclusive to it.

This includes a range of cosmetic rewards, which can be unlocked by completing challenges every week.

This allows fans to add new skins, outfits, gliders and harvesting tools, as well as a number of other items to their accounts.

Each new Battle Pass also has a theme, with Fortnite Season 8 offering up a tropical setting, filled with pirate motifs.

This likely means that a lot of the new outfits will be based around traditional nautical gear, with a few other extras added in.

And it looks like the first designs have already leaked before things get underway.

Three new skins have appeared online, which have leaked early from the Xbox Game Store.

The new image shows three new skins, each one part of the new Season Battle Pass.

Fans will have to wait until the new Battle Pass is live to confirm that they are real, but they do seem pretty genuine.

And it’s worth stating that neither of the three designs shared online today scream pirate, so it will be worth seeing what happens next.

As usual, items will be offered in tiers, with players able to level up by completing Weekly Challenges.

This will unlock additional rewards like progressive outfits, Pets and exclusive cosmetics.

One hundred rewards worth over 25,000 V-Bucks has become the standard and will likely be the amount offered in Season 8.

Epic Games says that it takes 75 to 150 hours of playtime to unlock all of this stuff.

Players can also buy up to 100 tiers, each for 150 V-Bucks if they want to, although completing weekly challenges is usually enough to claim all the best gear.

The good news is that all items earned during a season can be kept when it ends and will not disappear with the start of a new one.

Fortnite Season 8 teaser have been released this week by Epic Games, hinting the overall theme coming to the map.

This included a Pirate hook, a banana in a volcano, a beast-like creature or mask, and a serpent.

Like in past seasons, one of these teasers will no doubt feature as an item in the new Battle Pass.

So it seems very likely that we will be getting some new pirate skins paired with some other more exotic designs.

The Fortnite Battle Pass for Season 8 will also include some random gear and items that don’t fit into the teasers released by Epic.

Fans have also been wondering if the Fortnite Battle Pass could be expanded during Season 8.

Having already made it possible to earn a free Battle Pass without the need of spending V-Bucks, gamers are wondering if some other tweaks might be made.

For those that don’t know, fans have been able to earn a free Fortnite Season 8 Battle Pass by completing the recently released Overtime Challenges.

13 Challenges must be completed for a free Battle Pass to be rewarded to your account.

And for those late to the party, Epic Games has made it clear this had to be done by February 27.

Fortnite servers are being taken offline at 9am, GMT, this morning, meaning there is only a few short hours left before things get interesting.

The new Fortnite trailer is expected to be released during the scheduled maintenance period and this will include further hints and news at what will be included in the Battle Pass.

Following this, the official Epic Games Battle Pass page will be updated, offering up all the details needed for those interested in snapping one up.